The NSE Nifty recovered smartly from initial losses and ended almost flat today in a highly choppy trade amidst mixed macro events.
The session saw wild fluctuations with the key index swinging nearly 100 points and at once stage plunging below the 8,200 mark before recovering the lost ground.
The 50-share Nifty hit a high of 8,242.40 and a low of 8,152.50 before settling at 8,219.60, showing a small fall of 4.50 points, or 0.05 per cent, over its previous close.
After dropping sharply in early trade on dismal factory output data, the market rebounded in noon after official figures showed wholesale price index fell to zero level in November.
Banking and financial stocks led the recovery on hopes of RBI soon easing interest rates in the backdrop of softening prices.
Industrial production saw the sharpest contraction in three years - at 4.2 per cent in October - underlining fragile consumer sentiment and weak investments.
A sharp fall in other Asian equities on the back of sluggish Japanese macro data along with relentless slide in crude oil prices also dampened the sentiment here.
Barring banking, all sectoral indices ended in negative terrain.
Technology stocks remained under intense selling pressure with heavyweight TCS plunging nearly 4 per cent on Q3 earnings concerns due to cross currency volatility. Tech Mahindra, Infosys, HCL Tech and Wipro also declined sharply.
Other top index losers included ITC, Tata Motors, Axis Bank, BPCL, L&T, Sesa Sterlite, Reliance, ICICI Bank, HUL, Cipla, Asian Paints, SBI and Dr Reddy's Lab.
Among the gainers, HDFC shot up 5.12 per cent, while Kotak Bank rose over 5 per cent. HDFC Bank, ONGC, Coal India, Zee, Grasim, UltraTech, Hero and Bharti Airtel were other smart movers.
Turnover in the cash segment dropped to Rs 14,011.68 crore from Rs 16,360.78 crore last Friday. A total of 7,135.33 lakh shares changed hands in 67,76,742 trades, while market capitalisation stood at Rs 93,97,075 crore.
